1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to monitoring the state of health of vehicle components and, more particularly, to a component prognosis technique that utilizes the concept of an observer to integrate component health signatures, usage information and a degradation model.
2. Background
There is a constant effort in the automotive industry to improve the quality and reliability of vehicles by incorporating fault diagnosis and prognosis features into vehicles. One area of particular interest is the prognosis of individual vehicle components such as a battery or alternator. Several techniques have been developed that include monitoring a component's operating parameters, then applying an algorithm that compares the operating data to historical data to predict the behavior, age and remaining life of a component. These techniques, however, are one dimensional in that they don't integrate other factors that may contribute to the age and remaining life of a component.
Therefore, what is needed is a more robust and consistent multi-dimensional approach to component prognosis that utilizes the concept of an observer to integrate component health signatures, usage information and a degradation model.